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Against Conscription In Canada

652 Words3 Pages

During the conscription crisis of 1917, Canada was still a relatively young and inexperienced country, and did not yet have the capability or independence to deal with such an issue. However, one question was made clear to all Canadians… could national unity be maintained throughout the crisis? In 1939 Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King made the same promise to that of his predecessor Robert Borden; in Canada, there would be no conscription and all military service would be voluntary. “Conscription if necessary, but not necessarily conscription” was a statement made by King during the Plebiscite in 1942 and just like Borden, he too had broken his promise to Canadian citizens. Twice now in Canada 's history, conscription has demonstrated to be a poor “solution” that is not only destructive to the patriotism and unity that Canadians had struggled to build, but also resulted in the division of families, the separation of francophone and anglophone …show more content…

Citizens gain an understanding and appreciation for the sacrifices people in the military make. However, despite this… without the recognition of human rights, peace still can’t be achieved, whether its individual, cultural, or gender based rights. Even though forced labour is considered a violation of human rights, the practice of compulsory military service isn’t. The United Nations Commission on Human Rights only moved towards recognizing the right of individuals to object to military service in 1987. However, though this acknowledgment is a step forwards, it remains limited; this is because it solely refers to the military service itself, and does not include the right to object to auxiliary forms of service and only sees absolute and universal objections towards military service, excluding those who object to certain military activities or

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